Divorced and dissatisfied with a young son who hates him and a girlfriend who is tiring of his inattentiveness, Wallace Avery (Colin Firth) feels he's got nothing worth hanging onto. So he takes a step that many dream of, but rarely follow through on: he purchases the identity of a deceased man, fakes his own death, and starts a new life as Arthur Newman, golf pro. Shortly after beginning this new existence, however, he meets and falls in love with a woman (Emily Blunt) whom he discovers is also trying to leave her past behind.